French Theology for the Philosopher of Technology

Paul Tyson lives in Australia and is an honorary assistant professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham. He has published books in philosophical theology and has a keen interest in politics, economics, and sociology. His fascination with the rich matrix of how meaning and practice interrelate in daily living gives his work a strongly interdisciplinary, dialectical, and applied emphasis.

Jacob E. Van Vleet has written an accessible and thoroughly researched text outlining the manner in which an informed appreciation of Jacques Ellul’s dialectical theology is of pivotal significance in understanding his work. In this reviewer’s opinion, Van Vleet’s book is a very fine example of a clear and careful synthetic introductory exposition. Most of what I will say in this review is not so much a comment on Van Vleet’s book itself as a reflection on why the book Van Vleet wrote needed to be written and what type of readers of Ellul and thinkers influenced by Ellul will find the text useful.

Ellul is a seminal figure in twentieth-century philosophy of technology scholarship. Two of Ellul’s books—The Technological Society (1954) and Propaganda (1962)—are recognized classics in the field. Even so, Ellul was not a scholar who could be readily assimilated into...